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Thursday, 9 April 2015

I Let You Go - Clare Mackintosh

About the book...

A tragic accident. It all happened so quickly. She couldn't have prevented it. Could she?

In a split second, Jenna Gray's world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life forever.

Slowly, Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating...

About the author...

Clare Mackintosh is an author, feature writer and columnist. She has written for The Guardian, Sainsbury's Magazine, The Green Parent, and many other national publications, and is a columnist for Cotswold Life and Writing Magazine.

Clare spent twelve years in the police force, working on CID, in custody and as a public order commander, and has drawn on her experiences for her début psychological thriller I Let You Go. She is currently writing her second novel, out next year.

My thoughts...I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review which I'm more than happy to give.Wow, this is a psychological thriller that will suck you in and spit you out before you know it - hugely haunting, a story that runs so deep it's harrowing and beautiful at the same time if that can be possible? Within the first twenty pages I was hooked. It is impossible to believe that this is a debut psychological thriller for Clare. Her criminal knowledge (from the right side of the law, I might add) is obvious from the start. Her attention to detail is clear, concise and to the point - there are no unnecessary words or characters in this book!This was one of the best psychological crime novels I have ever read. Jenna the lead character is running away , attempting to bury herself in a quiet welsh village, far from herreal life - hoping to regroup and rid herself of the nightmare that ended her life as she knew it on a rainy, winter afternoon. I spent most of this novel holding my breath, there was always something there, something I couldn't put my finger on, something just out of reach. I Let You Go is at times a harrowing, yet a compelling read. A story that had me the reader, reading faster and faster, wanting to unravel the mysteries, then BAM!! Wishing with every breath in my body that I could un-read them. What a twist!! I'd got this book nicely sewn up, I knew exactly what had happened and why then Clare dropped a grenade and everything was shattered. Clare's descriptive skills are second to none - describing people and events in such a way I thought they were real. Such as I was involved in the story. I could feel Jenna's pain as easily as if it was my own, the frustrations of the CID team assigned to the police case. The frustrations of Mags, Ray, the DI in charge of the police case's wife, previously a police officer herself until giving up work to become a parent - her frustrations and angst clear for everyone to see - always nodding in the right place but the sub-text telling a different story.This is a book that shows you can't run, you can't hide from your past, it will always catch up with you and somehow, someway, you must find strength to face what is thrown at you. But most of all things aren't always what they seem, sometimes people hide beneath a mask, but there's always a reason and those the wrong side of the law have to live looking over their shoulder.When I finished this book it was like I'd been through an emotional wringer, so rarely does a book leave me deeply moved - picking up my next read has been difficult. I highly recommend you read this book, but factor in time for thought, I promise you, you will agonise and analyse a big chunk of both the storyline and the characters within I Let You Go.